Just got a call from "Telstra" saying my Internet will be terminated. Something tells me this is a scam....

revo on 12/03/2014 - 20:10

Hi,

So my mum received a call from so called "Telstra" earlier in the day, but my mum said to call back later because her English isn't good. Later tonight he called back, claiming he was from Telstra, and that my internet would be terminated tomorrow, because of 'harmful files/activity' on my computer. Funny because my computer is only like 2 weeks old with 2 antiviruses installed. Even funnier is because I'm with TPG, so I don't see why Telstra would contact me directly. So I told him I don't believe him and hung up and he just kept calling and calling, until I picked up and told him to 'bugger off'. Anyway what are your thoughts on this? Has anybody got this call before? and what's the general procedure they go through?

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Comments

    • Diji1 on 16/03/2014 - 20:08

      Seeing as they're already attempting to carry out a criminal act by calling and impersonating a Telstra employee I don't think asking to be placed on the do not call list in compliance with codes of conduct or legislation is going to help much.

  • Ughhh on 12/03/2014 - 20:41
    +3

    I dont think these are the usual telemarketers, Im guessing this call is somewhat similar to this https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/111307

    • revo on 12/03/2014 - 21:17

      Yeah I remember that, I've had that one too before. He tried to get me to type something up. Inside I was mad and laughing at the same time. (yeah nahh not happening)

  • AssociatedJohnny-Kun @ Telstra on 12/03/2014 - 20:48
    +12

    Im a CT in Telstra and I know for a fact that Telstra will not contact any wholesale customers in regards to anything. Only time a Telstra employee will talk to the wholesale customer is when CT's like myself rock up to your place to fix the fault (Face to face).

    But yeah, any communications to the customer will be through their wholesale provider and not Telstra.

    Next time when that so called person calls up again, ask for his/her employee and tell them that your going to investigate it further up just to be sure. He'll probably freak out and hang up on you

  • Glittergirl on 12/03/2014 - 22:23

    I had the microsoft fraudsters call me so often that the only way to fix it was to put a block on incoming overseas calls. Hopefully your 'bugger off' worked :-)

  • iamnikon on 12/03/2014 - 22:53
    +15

    A friend of mine had a scammer call about viruses on his Windows and he just strung the guy along.
    SCAMMER: I'm from Windows Support and there's been suspicious activity on your computer.
    FRIEND: I'm using a Mac, so why would Windows call me?
    SCAMMER: Who said anything about Windows, I'm from Apple.
    FRIEND: Oh, but I'm using Linux on my Mac.
    And the guy gave up soon after that.

    • tebbybabes on 13/03/2014 - 00:11

      I strung him along as well. Played along with everything he said and even said yes I was looking at the Event Viewer with all the scary exclamation points. Up to that point, everything he said still made sense…. until I told him that I don't think I should be worried because I was just running a VM on top of Linux. He sounded like he didn't have the foggiest notion what I was talking about. After that, the bull crap he kept continuing on fell apart and he said he would call his supervisor… then he hung up.

      I sorta miss getting those calls. LOL.

      • DrKazanovaKK on 13/03/2014 - 21:33
        +7

        I miss getting them too, I had so much fun my wife stopped me from answering them :(

      • ExpressCoffee on 13/03/2014 - 22:24

        I told the lady that as well! Had her on the phone for around 15 minutes then gave her the

        "You know I have a Mac right?"

        And she got pretty frustrated and asked why I didn't tell her that at the start. She then mumbled and hung up on me!

  • [Deactivated] on 12/03/2014 - 22:59

    I remember the microsoft guys. I played along for around 30mins and recorded the conversation on my phone. Then accused them of cutting my power. Their response "no I am very nice lady, I did not do anything to your power"

  • blitz on 12/03/2014 - 23:06
    +1

    my internet will be terminated.

    Are you Sarah Connor? Seriously though, sounds like the Microsoft support scam. Could try routing them to Its Lenny.

  • Macgyver on 12/03/2014 - 23:13
    +2

    Well see if it's terminated tomorrow.
    If we get no reply tomorrow I guess it was a real Telstra call.

    • [Deactivated] on 12/03/2014 - 23:36
      +2

      Trust Macgyver to come up with the simplest solution.

  • OldBugger on 13/03/2014 - 00:24
    +3

    Had a similar situation. A well spoken bloke from "Telstra" called my wife saying our account was overdue and would cancel our phone service unless we pay $120. Wife panicked and gave out our CC details.

    I found out about this an hour later and knew straight away we had been scammed. Rang the bank and cancelled the card. Strangely, the bloke was able to sneak one transaction through. $289 for food delivered to a place in QLD.

    After I saw this on my online statement, I kind of felt a bit sorry for the fella. He must have been hungry. Not the best way to make an anonymous transaction.

    Police were also called by us. I wasn't sure if I needed to as the bank was handling it all. But the investigator was really interested in the matter, trying to get every piece of the story from us.

    I never heard the outcome to their investigations but I did get all our money back from the bank without any troubles.

    We now don't answer the any incoming calls that come through on the PSTN line, they go straight to messages 101. We only answer calls with an ID from the separate VOIP number, which is unlisted. Best move we ever made.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/03/2014 - 09:21

      We do something similar. It's great to completely ignore a ringing phone. One thing I've noticed, is they only let it ring say, 6 times max then hang up.

      • Speckled Jim on 13/03/2014 - 11:37

        We just keep the ringer off. If anyone of importance wants to contact us, they know our mobile numbers. Worst case (like if they're short of credit) they SMS and we call them back.

        • [Deactivated] on 14/03/2014 - 08:58

          Sometimes when I'm at my desk and it rings, I press the answer button (speaker phone) and say nothing. They say nothing too. 20 seconds later they hang up. What's that about!? Why they never say… "Hello?" is beyond me.

        • TimOfEastBNE on 14/03/2014 - 11:41
          +1

          simple, they are using an auto dialler with noise detection. They want to confirm they are not getting an answering achine before they connect you to a real person. They make so many calls they don't dial manually.

        • Steptoe on 15/03/2014 - 16:29

          Yep, when the system detects a person it gets conected to the person in the "Call Centre"

        • telljoolz on 15/03/2014 - 21:37

          That's exactly what I do! :)
          edit i mean the answer but say nothing thing.

    • IdBuyThat4aDollar on 13/03/2014 - 09:34
      +1

      Naive wives!

  • Kendrite13 on 13/03/2014 - 06:47
    +10

    Just as a side note you should not have 2 antivirus installed and running at the same time. You would be better off choosing one and uninstalling the other.

    • revo on 13/03/2014 - 13:08

      LOL yeah I'm well aware it's no good to have the both of them, I'm still deciding atm, between Kaspersky or AVG. Any other recommendations for Anti Viruses?

      • Gdsamp on 14/03/2014 - 09:22
        +2

        If you're using free versions, Avast is a pretty solid bet.

      • [Deactivated] on 16/03/2014 - 22:50

        AVG4Life

    • [Deactivated] on 13/03/2014 - 19:28

      It's fine to have a main one and an extra one such as MalwareBytes or Superantispyware. But those are just extras that don'to run all the time, they just cleanup after you've been infected. I like good ol' Avast and haven't needed to install anything on top of that because I haven't gotten infected.

      • [Deactivated] on 14/03/2014 - 17:10

        You can run the paid versions of MBAM or SAS that are monitoring/always on programs you just have to make sure they're compatible and/or you have them in the exclusion list for your AV.

        But like AV, you should only have one resident Anti-Malware program.

      • [Deactivated] on 15/03/2014 - 11:08

        Um… I used Avast until recently. It was the first thing I installed after a HDD reformat and fresh WinXP install. Also had malwarebytes, and spybot installed. Over time computer slowed to a crawl. I ran a MANUAL scan. Avast found nothing. Either malwarebytes or spybot (forget which) did. (What the heck is the point of all these things, if you have run them manually? How are you supposed to know WHEN you're infected so you can run a scan!?) About this same time I was thinking about purchasing Kaspersky, so I downloaded the trial. It found about 30 virii and trojans. I uninstalled Avast immediately because obviously it was completely useless. Looked up some virus comparisons and the ones most people always recommended rated at the bottom. I think the reason people say, "I've used x and have never had a problem…" is, because their antivirus doesn't FIND the problems. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

        • [Deactivated] on 15/03/2014 - 14:15

          Without knowing more about your situation and what Kaspersky removed:

          • Avast may have been out of date either due to not renewing it or a virus disabling it
          • Kaspersky may have been labeling benign things like cookies as trojans
          • There is a paid version of Malwarebytes that's reasonable at letting you know when you have malware (but not viruses, 'cause they don't do viruses)

          I, personally, don't use AV in any form. I remain malware and AV free and have for the past 10 or so years I've been doing this because I know the likely sources of viruses and malware and avoid them. See my post here: http://archive.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=9&t=13212 . It's a little out of date but still mostly true.

        • Leeeroy on 15/03/2014 - 16:50

          Windows XP is unfortunately not a very secure operating system "the Windows XP operating system was found to be more than five times as vulnerable to viruses as Windows 8 is"

          http://www.slashgear.com/windows-xp-is-469-percent-more-infe…

        • Gaz1 on 15/03/2014 - 19:14

          … but Windows 8 is 5 times more irritating than XP!

  • uaapd on 13/03/2014 - 07:47
    +17

    These types of calls should be handled to ensure they don't ever want to call you back. Try this: "oh thank you, I'll just go and get my credit card". Then put the phone handset down on the table, or in a handbag or cupboard, but do not hang up. Just walk away and resume life prior to the call.

    If you have time to play along, you can go back after a few minutes and tell them you won't be long, and continue the cycle for as long as either of you choose to participate.

    I don't hang up, ever. These people want to be in control so I allow them to listen to the inside of my handbag for as long as they choose to.

    This is the same technique I use to manage my husband's ex wife. She no longer bothers either.

    • iseenya on 13/03/2014 - 10:52
      +4

      +1 for the ex-wife management tip!

      • uaapd on 13/03/2014 - 11:04
        +4

        This method appeals because these people have to pay to listen to my handbag. You can choose to argue or choose not to participate. I win every time.

    • Repi on 13/03/2014 - 23:11
      +2

      That is exactly what we do, we time them and every so often after a few beers we compare. My friend currently holds the record with 41 minutes before they disconnected.

    • Food on 15/03/2014 - 10:03

      "Oh, I just need to put you on hold" #put up to radio#

    • fleetoiler on 15/03/2014 - 19:00

      I went a different route…

      I started enquiring about the poor lady's employment opportunities (after working out it was a scam "your PC has a virus" call). I asked where she worked (outside Sydney someplace, I forget), if she was being paid or forced to do this, if she could give me an address, etc.

      She tried a few times to gain control, but got quite angry about the turn of events and eventually hung up on me. I feel sorry for them, really. It must really suck to get paid a pittance (or not get paid!) to scam people you don't know :*( For all I know, I've "cheated" her and her family out of being able to eat for the day/week/month.

      I figure if someone is actually being coerced to do this I should give them a chance to leave a plea for help, that way I can pass on the information to the police for them to investigate the scam properly.

      edit: Follow these steps instead.
      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/136497#comment-1881302

  • Peck on 13/03/2014 - 09:17

    Unsolicited Emails, phone calls, & people who walk up to me in the street in Thailand; I treat them all as scammers and delete them. Wtf if one in a million is not!

    • [Deactivated] on 13/03/2014 - 09:24
      +8

      people who walk up to me in the street in Thailand

      That was me. I was just trying to tell you your fly was undone because you'd forgotten to put underpants on.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/03/2014 - 16:58
      +15

      I think deleting people off the streets of Thailand is a bit extreme, don't you?

      • Peck on 15/03/2014 - 09:33

        Yep I know what I said. It was NOT unintentional. If you have ever been to the Grand Palace in Bangkok you will know what I mean. (I have taken friends there many times) The scammers who come up to you, tell you that they are from the tourist authority and that the Palace is closed for Kings Birthday, or that the entrance is opposite to the end that it really is, etc etc etc. The majority of tourists who go to the Grand Palace are quite new to Thailand, and new to the Grand Palace scammers. Bad for Thailand, bad for tourism, bad for people who end up at the receiving end of the scams (too many scams to list here). And Thai authorities do nothing about it! These scammers should be deleted! PM me if you are going, and I will list scams to watch out for!

    • MetaSynapse on 13/03/2014 - 16:58
      +1

      people who walk up to me in the street in Thailand
      I […] delete them

      I have a feeling the Thai police may want a word with you…

      • Hazardousking on 14/03/2014 - 12:11

        Don't worry as long as they approach him on the street he can delete them.

      • retiredfeline on 14/03/2014 - 12:24

        But they could approach him off the street and delete him. Delete wars!

  • forever saving on 13/03/2014 - 10:06

    It's a scam, happened to a co-worker last week. An aggressive indian sounding woman calling from telstra threatening to terminate internet service due to illegal pornography downloads.
    They have kept calling her though so she disconnected her phone. You can probably get them to stop using one of the creative methods above.

  • revo on 13/03/2014 - 13:09
    +1

    hahah sweet thanks guys, My internet DID NOT disconnect. But strangely my water did….. HAHAHA :(
    It's back up now though, which is a relief.

    • [Deactivated] on 15/03/2014 - 01:53
      +4

      My internet DID NOT disconnect. But strangely my water did.

      Sounds like a typical Telstra job to me - trying to fix one thing and f**king up something else instead.

      So it really was them on the phone :(

  • 1bug on 13/03/2014 - 16:33
    +1

    Some tips from ACMA (Australian Communications & Media Authority).

    OUTSMART the SCAMMERS
    The impact of phone and email scams can be devastating.
    Use these tips to help you SPOT and STOP scams.

    SUSPECT: Don’t accept anything at face value — if it sounds unlikely or too good to be true, it probably is.

    THINK: Recognise the signs — if you’re being pressured to act, disclose personal details or send money to a stranger, it's almost certainly a scam.

    REPORT: Act quickly — tell SCAMwatch and stop scammers in their tracks.

    IGNORE: Never respond. Just hang up, or delete the SMS or email after reporting.

    You can report scams to www.scamwatch.gov.au or by calling 1300 795 995.

    http://www.acma.gov.au/~/media/mediacomms/Images/acmascammer…
    http://www.acma.gov.au/Citizen/Stay-protected/My-online-worl…

    Tags:
    Telstra scam
    Microsoft scam
    Windows scam
    scam , fraud , imposter , fake , rip-off , ripoff

    • cheepwun on 15/03/2014 - 08:45

      You can report scams to www.scamwatch.gov.au or by calling 1300 795 995.

      I wonder if they'd respond to my complaint about the ATO.

  • NaughtyBoy on 13/03/2014 - 16:37
    +1

    Spend as much time wasting THEIR TIME without wasting any of your time.
    When idiots call me, I tell them that this is really important to me and I need to go and get the phone in the other room next to my computer. I then put this phone down (do not disconnect) and forget about the call. Occasionally I quietly check to see if the line is still connected and most often it is.
    Hope this FKS around the people who are trying to FK me around !

    Everyone have a lovely day.

  • padman on 13/03/2014 - 18:43

    put them on hold and play loud annoying adverts from youtube

    • keverns on 13/03/2014 - 22:58
      +1

      i played some 'adult movies' when they called me

  • [Deactivated] on 13/03/2014 - 19:31

    I've got a friend that says he will give them his CC details if they sign up to a phone plan with his company. (He doesn't work for a phone company)

  • ahly92 on 13/03/2014 - 19:54
    +5

    that moment when an indian guy on the line tells u his name is tom….priceless.."good evening sir my name tom from telstra…

    • revo on 14/03/2014 - 17:26
      +6

      HAHA, You should tell him your name is sukhdeep.

  • altomic on 13/03/2014 - 21:19
    +1

    Just make up a Cc number. Don't hesitate. Act concerned. Etc etc.

  • No ONE on 13/03/2014 - 23:57

    Hahahahaha when I recieve such calls, the moment they speak I know them, so I just tell'um "F***off" and make the sound blah blagh blogh ha he hon blah blah and then hang up.

    Or if I'm infront of computer, I place the phone near speaker and play videos or music or movie. That works all the time

  • TightBum on 13/03/2014 - 23:59

    had one about a week ago, so sick of these scammers. I wonder where they are getting all the numbers from o.O

    • [Deactivated] on 14/03/2014 - 11:25
      +1

      They don't use phone books. They must be using cheap VoIP and ringing sequential numbers. Because my number is unlisted and they still call constantly.

      • honeydew on 24/03/2014 - 21:53

        I sound like a 13 year old so when I received a call from some charity the lady on the phone asked for the house owner. I asked her how she got the number because the number is private and she said a computer generated it.

  • CHIEFMEGADETH on 14/03/2014 - 00:02
    +2

    i got a call from this number today some where in Malaysia +603 77180400
    Then they asked for me full name.
    Then said they're from microsoft and updating something? then asked me what company i work for.
    I said "i'm not going to give you that information" Then he said "Ok Bye" Just like that it was over
    WTf was that, anyone know?

  • ethereal88 on 14/03/2014 - 07:32
    -3

    Who even still uses a home phone? I switched to VOIP long long ago and no one has the DID number except the ISP.

  • rav_stk on 14/03/2014 - 09:01
    +1

    i had spoken to one about an year back..Same sort of pitch , you windows system is sending messages to microsoft…blah blah.. i knew from the beginging its a scammer..but kept on speaking just to know where it leads to.. started by a girl and then she trf me to her supervisor.. Who introduced himself.. Hi, I am jack nicholson.. i thought wow.. i am arnold schwarzenegger

  • Gdsamp on 14/03/2014 - 09:25
    -1

    While it is fun to troll them around and stuff, spare a thought for some of these people as it is their primary source of income. Constantly being turned down by people gets tiring and depressing.
    Continue.

    • retiredfeline on 14/03/2014 - 11:33
      +5

      So maybe they'll get depressed enough to get a job that doesn't scam people. Should I feel sorry for Nigerian scammers too?

    • [Deactivated] on 14/03/2014 - 12:12

      Cue the violins. ;-p

      Companies employing telemarketers are leeches on humanity. If what they were selling had any reasonable value they wouldn't need to pursue people to buy it. Especially in the dishonest manner they do.

      I've done a professional sales course worth a few thousand, paid for an employer. Professional sales people convince themselves they can change peoples' minds - and trick them into purchasing. One example is, if you ask 3 questions a target must say "yes" to, they'll be disarmed enough to say yes to buying.

      They have little respect for customers, referring to people who buy quickly/easily, "wood ducks" or "shooting fish in a barrel". When I was doing that course I thought, "I would just still say no. Surely no one's that thick!" Sadly some people must be, but they still shouldn't be taken advantage of.

      Those employers are also taking advantage of the telemarketers. This is exactly WHY they should all be mucked around… So eventually no-one wants to do it as a job and dishonest companies go out of business.

      On second thought, with government destroying manufacturing on a daily basis, maybe you're right - telemarketing will be the only employment left in Australia. Now where's my next wood duck?

    • [Deactivated] on 14/03/2014 - 19:14

      You know they're thieves, right? It's not real work. They're agreeing to criminal activity by doing what they do. Spare a thought? Srs?

    • centrelink on 15/03/2014 - 03:14

      To them we are called fools because we actually know how toe earn cash honestly

  • Davros on 14/03/2014 - 12:21

    Silent number - haven't had a mystery call in years but when I used to, as my phone is near my computer and I usually have soft music playing I put them on hold while getting the person they should be speaking to (puts down phone near speaker and continue doing what I was doing indefinitely)

  • Ranagade on 14/03/2014 - 13:42
    +1

    Here's an idea… if they say they're calling from Telstra, say you work for Telstra. If they say they're calling from Microsoft, say you work for Microsoft!

  • massafiri on 14/03/2014 - 14:38
    +1

    Do not worry, this is only a Scam

    True story:

    I received a cold call from these scammers last year. I strung the guy along for a good 30 minutes before telling him "I'm on a mac"..
    He paused in confusion… and then continued reading the script, completely oblivious to what I just told him.

    I then stopped him, and put on a very deep voice, and said
    "This is Senior Constable John McGregger from the cyber criminal division of the Australian Federal Police. You're line has been intercepted and Australian law enforcement will be arriving soon to prosecute you to the full extend of the law"

    I then muddled my words up, trying to thing of some more 'lawful' things to say. He paused for another 20 seconds… before opening with "You motherf'er, I will f' your mother you sh' (etc..etc..)"

    I returned with laughing and we swore at each other for a good 2 minutes.
    Good times.

    Think about it.

    If you know it's a scam call, keep them on the line for as long as possible.
    Give them as much hope as possible.

    The longer you keep them on the phone, the more of their limited time you will waste and the less chance that these bastards can target those who are vulnerable (like the elderly).

  • striker5950 on 14/03/2014 - 14:50
    +1

    I always get these calls and usually tell them to go F@&K themselves and hang up.
    their always Indian to be honest, no offence to any Indians here not trying to be racist just stating the fact.

  • windrc on 14/03/2014 - 20:25

    I get this type of scam call a lot as well - makes no difference if you are on silent number or on the do-not-call-registry. Indian ascent, Telstra technical support team and they always showed up as Oversea private number.

    My land line is actually with Telstra and I've reported to their unwelcome-call team about these scam calls. Telstra turned on call tracing for 30 days and ask me to report to them next time I receive these call. But later on they told me if the calls originate from oversea, their call tracing system is basically useless because all they would see is a code and can't even tell which country it's calling from.

    So at the end, they told me there's no way of blocking these calls (unless you block all oversea calls).

    I've had fun trying out a few of the following:
    1. Play along and ask them to repeat every second instructions.
    2. Speak softly - so they would dial up their headphone's volume - followed by blowing a whistle into the mic.
    3. Tell them you were actually about to call Telstra technical support to report your internet connection is not working / or question about your last bill being charged an excessive amount.

    Now as soon as I answer my phone, they actually recognized my voice and hang up themselves.

  • nikey2k27 on 14/03/2014 - 22:22

    I love say windows are working opening and closing them. then going one make nose thank you for take the time tell me about nose windows i get right on it.

    • [Deactivated] on 15/03/2014 - 01:44
      +8

      What did I just read o_O

      • Riczter on 15/03/2014 - 02:30

        is it… some obscure form of cryptography??
        Maybe he's having a stroke? ..
        I dunno, i got nothin

      • retiredfeline on 15/03/2014 - 09:36

        I think he's found a good way to get rid of phone scammers; they can't understand him. :)

      • altomic on 19/03/2014 - 23:54

        I think he is talking about actual windows. with glass and stuff. and opening the window and closing it. nose = noise?

      • m8 on 28/05/2014 - 16:27

        I'm at work and dying from laughter. I can't keep it in.

    • [Deactivated] on 15/03/2014 - 09:58

      Good ole nikey. "I have only just started learning english." since what, 2002? Earlier? Good times.

      • [Deactivated] on 15/03/2014 - 16:07
        +1

        Or maybe nikey is from the future… '2k27' and that's how we'll all talk some day.

        • Steptoe on 15/03/2014 - 16:41

          That Flux Capacitor has brutal side effects.

  • RI4V4N on 15/03/2014 - 07:42

    My parents had a guy calling saying he was from microsoft once etc, tried to get them to install anti-virus stuff and sign up with a credit card.
    They didnt do it, thank god.

  • Kempe on 15/03/2014 - 13:34

    You say you have 2 anti viruses installed, get rid of one of them as they can work against each other

  • pebee47 on 15/03/2014 - 14:04

    There are hundreds of books written about overcoming objections, and most telemarketers/scammers have read the lot.
    The only phrase a they can't deal with is "Thank you, but No thank you". Any other answer gives them an "In".
    Repeat as necessary. (Count the number of times for future reference at parties.)
    When you get bored with it, terminate with "What part of NO don't you understand? The "N" or the "O"? - and hang up.

    • Steptoe on 15/03/2014 - 16:44

      When you accuse them of F#@king the first animal that comes to mind (Donkey, Goat etc.), it usually throws them off script…

      • JoyVee on 16/03/2014 - 00:06

        I am always so enthusiastic once they start talking. I tell them I am so pleased that they have called as I really need their name and address to give to our police. The authorities will be so pleased to contact them and take them to court! Strangely they always hang up. JoyV

      • [Deactivated] on 17/03/2014 - 15:45

        See calling them names doesn't hurt them, wasting their time does.
        We always say.////hang on I'll just grab <whoever> & put the phone down….every so often yell out, hang on, they're coming…

        or if you're in a playful mood, play along with their script.
        The virus ones are always funny, as i keep asking them if i should just chuck my computer in the bin, or will that just spread it around the neighbourhood? What happens if I soak it in bleach?

        We need to have a game to see who can get furthest along in the call, it seems each person has a job to get you too a certain point (first person see's if you're gullible) & then escalate you to a more senior technical support person, I've made it up to the third person, but the call dropped out passing me to the next person…They were showing me the error in the Windows Event Log & were about to hand me over to a senior support person to get me to download some software…

  • branners on 18/03/2014 - 15:57
    +3

    I used to get these calls all the time.
    I especially like the ones who had been instructed that they should not hang up first, no matter what. I would ask them if they had considered re-dedicating their life to their one and only saviour, Jesus Christ, and then read to them from the New Testament. (I would keep a handy bible next to the telephone table). I think I may have even converted one or two of them to Christianity.
    A nice, harmless way for an atheist to deal with phone scams. I kinda miss them dayz…

  • retiredfeline on 22/03/2014 - 00:48

    Here's a sad story on ABC about someone who was distracted and fell victim to scammers:

    http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/03/20/3967885.htm

  • altomic on 22/03/2014 - 15:13

    them "hello, my name is Tom, I am calling from Microsoft."
    me "hi tom, do you bat for both sides?"
    them "um……"

    -and the conversation deteriorates from there

    • retiredfeline on 22/03/2014 - 15:37

      Try this:

      You: Sorry to hear about your problem with a small d*ck.

      :)

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